The rise of addictive technology has fueled all sorts of ridiculously contentious and controversial conversations, particularly online. Anyone with a smartphone and access to the internet can just wake up and drop a bombshell of fallacious, malicious, and fictitious information about a person, a place, and even an event without fear of retribution, pushback, or backlash.
Sadly, this phenomenon has reached a dizzying and disruptive stage, with the spread of blatant misinformation, flagrant falsehood, and outlandish invectives rising stratospherically on a different, dangerous, and debilitating level.
Quite essentially, the ineffectiveness on the parts of platforms to check and curb the excesses of these deliberate distortion of information have only exacerbated and made matters worse. Social media, gaming, online gambling, and pornography according to a series of findings fall under the categories of technologies that can lead to addictions. “Technology is an integral and growing part of our lives”, a study published on Psychiatry.org titled Technology Addictions: social media, Online Gaming and More stated, “However, excessive, compulsive or out-of-control use of various types of technologies is an increasing concern”.
The study found that excessive and compulsive use of the internet or online activities can lead to negative consequences in various aspects of an individual’s life. Additionally, technology addiction can potentially involve various forms of online activity including social media, gaming, gambling, and problematic use of online pornography. Meanwhile, another study contended that people with technology addiction can experience symptoms of tolerance and withdrawal similar to people with substance disorders.
In Irresistible: The Rise of addictive technologies and the Business to Keep Us Hooked, Adam Alter combed through various groundbreaking research to uncover how technology has become addictive whilst exploring the parallels between technology and substance addiction by showing how technology exploits similar psychological mechanisms. He noted that both types of addiction activate pleasure centers in the brain through consistent stimulation – whether it’s from a drug or the constant feedback loops on social media, games, and smartphones. He added that these addictive behaviors use the same “reward system” that substances do, creating dependencies that are tough to break, as both drugs and devices engage the brain’s craving for rewards and punishment.
Whilst some semblance of intellectual discourse and discussion still exists online, much of the conversation has turned into a high-decibel slanging match where harsh words used wantonly have become the new normal. The desire to trend and post viral content has also led to an astronomical increase in the spread of fake news and warped narratives. Adam Penenberg’s Viral Loop also captures some of the nuances of virality on social media.
My points? Simple. Not long ago, some influential social media users especially on X sparked a hot-button conversation on the progress recorded in Ibadan between 1976 and till date. In one of the tweets posted by one Morris Monye, a self-acclaimed investor, and prophet, he asked his over 400,000 followers to compare Ibadan of 1976 vs that of 2020. He asked whether the city has made improvements or regressed from the path of growth and development. That was on the 26th of January, 2021. The post quite generated lots of mixed reactions. But it was evident that like most content on social media, that one also fell under the fallacy of false generalization. The fact that he posted a tiny part of Ibadan to equate the whole of the city gave his findings away as utterly ridiculous.
But that’s one of the dangers of technology. While the virality of Morris Nonye’s comparison had fizzled out given the time and distance, the content recently resurfaced and has kept tongue wagging. Influential people such as Labor Party member, Aisha Yesufu and a few others quickly latched onto the tweet adding that the city’s development plans have both stalled and suffered huge setbacks. Vitriols in the form of comments quickly gained traction with many netizens attributing the pale comparison to the handiwork of inept administrators and governments.
For a while, the originators of that mendacious post had a field day, bashing the city and its people with reckless abandon. For those who knew the city, from its heydays to the present day, the comparison was simply an exercise in futility. First, using a tiny fraction of a city, as big as Ibadan to represent the whole is a non-starter. And when you look at the progress the city has made since the start of the fourth republic for example, placing side by with other cities safe for Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, you will realize Ibadan hasn’t done badly as it was being portrayed in the new media. Of interest are the various interventions and initiatives made by Governor Seyi Makinde.
The Governor has changed the face of the city with some of his projects and infrastructural masterpieces. Those who take pride in painting Ibadan as a city of underdevelopment will always feel depressed anytime developmental projects are being commissioned in record numbers. Late Abiola Ajimobi was described as the architect of modern Oyo state after eight years in office. It was Ajimobi who built the city’s flyover bridge. He also had several projects commissioned under this watch while leaving a legacy of peace and stability for his successor. Governor Makinde’s giant strides and imprints appear to have surpassed his predecessors.
The construction of modern motor Parks in Ojoo, Challenge, and the ongoing work at the Iwo-road is a testament to his vision of a city built on orderliness and incremental progress. Anyone who celebrated the construction of the Oshodi Bus terminal but criticized the ones in Ojoo, Challenge is a hypocrite. Makinde has also constructed and commissioned several road projects with works ongoing in many others within Ibadan’s inner and outer city. Governor Makinde has particularly focused on urban renewal, indirectly projecting the city to be ranked by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) research as the fastest-growing city in 2022.
Like most cities in developing countries, Ibadan, the largest in west Africa and the city of many first has its best years ahead and no amount of whitewashing and gaslighting by some digital dingbats will set the city back to the stone age.
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @GbadeTheGreat on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
